SPACE S< II N< 1 APP) [< ATIONS, AND ADVANCED RESEARCH, 1963-69 265 



With the reorganization of NASA and the subcommittees in 1963, 

 the Karth subcommittee took over weather and communications 

 satellites, as well as applications technology and other forms of 

 satellites, while the Hechler subcommittee retained authorization 

 authority over technology utilization. As noted, the Karth subcom- 

 mittee continued to stress the superior investment opportunities in 

 applications such as the Earth resources technology satellites. Chair- 

 man Miller and the subcommittee chairmen led the fight to 

 persuade NASA to place greater emphasis in areas understood, appre- 

 ciated and utilized by the public. 



At the close of the decade, Representative Lou Frey, Jr. (Repub- 

 lican of Florida) began a renewed campaign, supported by all members 

 of the committee, to focus more attention on the practical benefits of 

 the space program. As Frey stated in his views appended to the 1969 

 committee authorization report: 



First, increased steps must be taken by NASA to insure that a "payoff" orienta- 

 tion is present in all NASA planning for the future. Second, greater efforts must be 

 made by NASA to transfer the scientific knowledge and technology from the space 

 program to other phases of our life. Third, the citizens of this country who pay 

 hard-earned dollars for this program must be shown by example and through non- 

 technical language that they are receiving their money's worth, which they certainly 

 deserve. 



The committee pointed out countless other examples of practical 

 benefits first developed in the space program, from the use of lasers 

 in eye surgery to the home use of fuel cells, fire-resistant clothing and 

 home furnishings, and the grooving of highways to prevent hydro- 

 planing accidents. The electronic pacer, rechargeable from the outside, 

 need now be implanted in the chest only once to give a new heart to 

 the afflicted. The remarkable "sight switch," developed for activating 

 switches in a spacecraft by a mere movement of the astronaut's eye, 

 has been adapted to aid paralyzed people, and has been demonstrated 

 before the Science Committee. Just as space scientists have used 

 digital computers to clarify pictures televised from spacecraft, so is the 

 same technique used to clarify and sharpen medical X-rays. Railroad 

 tank cars, weighing half as much as steel cars, are being produced 

 from the light-weight plastics developed for NASA for use in its 

 rockets. 



As the committee reached the end of the decade of the 1960's, the 

 immediate goal of the lunar landing had been realized. Yet the cor- 

 rosive influence of the Vietnamese war, as it did in every phase of 

 American life, deeply affected the future of the committee's work. 



